Selma Diamond

Scribe and funny-woman Selma Diamond got her start in New York City, writing humor pieces and drawing cartoons for "The New Yorker" magazine. Eventually she moved into writing bits for various radio programs such Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" and Danny Kaye's "The Big Show." Diamond continued writing comedy when television beckoned, working on "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, "Caesar's Hour" (also with Sid Caesar), and "The Milton Berle Show." Her forceful personality as the lead writer for "Hour," coupled with her coarse voice, is said to have been the inspiration for the Rose Marie character on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Although her film appearances were few, Diamond did have memorable small moments in "Bang the Drum Slowly," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (voice only), and the body-swap comedy "All of Me." Still, many will remember her fondly and best for her role as Baliff Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC sitcom "Night Court." Hacker died of lung cancer in 1985 at the age of 64.